NEAR Foundation Partners with GFS Ventures to Launch Web3 Regional Hub in Vietnam

NEAR Foundation, the Swiss non-profit that oversees the governance and development of the NEAR protocol, announced it has partnered with premier venture capital fund GFS Ventures to launch a regional hub in Vietnam dedicated to ongoing blockchain innovation, education and talent development throughout the region.

The hub will be led by GFS Ventures, which includes GFS blockchain and VBI. GFS Blockchain is a media division directly under GFS Group (Golden Finance Solutions Group), while VBI includes VBI Academy and VBI Lab. VBI Academy is a research institute specialising in training, researching, and developing blockchain technology.

Meanwhile, VBI Lab has 300 members who are professors, PhD, researchers, experienced developers and IT students from top universities. VBI established the NEAR Vietnam Hub with the goal of training the NEAR Developer community throughout the country, forming Blockchain Labs at universities and researching and developing Blockchain technology applications in digital transformation.

"It is exciting to be helping some of the country's brightest minds become world-class blockchain developers," said Riley Tran, who will lead the NEAR hub in Vietnam. "We believe that in the industrial revolution 4.0, Vietnam is an exciting emerging market and has the best growth potential in Southeast Asia. The NEAR Protocol can help tomorrow's society create blockchain solutions that change the world, and this hub is a crucial step in achieving that."

"We are thrilled to see new blockchain developments in Vietnam as many exciting projects continue to emerge from the local ecosystem," said Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation. "This new hub demonstrates an unparalleled opportunity to develop local talent and to provide them with opportunities for further technological and commercial growth."